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BAGHDAD, 2 February 2022. Fourchildren have died - threeboys and onegirl - and two childrenhave been maimed over the last week, as a result of incidents related to explosive ordnances in two locations in Iraq. UNICEF expresses its deep sorrow and condolences to the childrens families, friends, and communities.

Tragically, as reported in aUNICEF statementlast August, this is not an isolated loss of childrens lives.In 2021, 52 children were killed and 73 were maimed by explosive remnants of war (ERW) and unexploded ordnance. Stronger concerted efforts are needed to reduce the increasing impact of these explosives, especially on boys, as the number of children casualties grew 67 per cent compared to 2020 (79 children for that year, including 61 boys.)

These events occurred in Babel province and Baghdad and happened while children were doing daily chores, such as collecting wood. UNICEF reminds all stakeholders that the need to uphold child safety must remain the primary consideration in all contexts. ERW continues to be a primary reason for civilian casualties, with children being especially vulnerable their smaller size makes them more likely to receive the full impact of the blast, making it even more lethal.

UNICEF continues to work on providing victim assistance, provide referral services to medical treatment and psychosocial support when needed.

UNICEF urges all parties to accelerate every effort to clear existing mines and unexploded ordnance and promote victim assistance, and to uphold childrens right to a safe and protective environment.

UNICEF also urges the Government of Iraq and the donor community to support the scale-up and provision of Explosive Ordnance Risk Education activities so that children and other community members receive explosive ordnance risk education in schools and communities in all areas previously affected by conflict in Iraq.

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Four children killed by explosive ordnance in Iraq - UNICEF

TEHRAN - An Iraqi analyst says that Iraqs history has shown that none of its neighbors would stand with the Iraqi people in its woes but Iran.

The recent experience in Iraq has proven, beyond a shadow of doubt, that nobody stands with the Iraqi people in its dark days but Iran as a strong neighbor and benevolent country, Ali Fahim tells the Tehran Times.

The Iraqis felt this stance during the days of the unjust siege, which was imposed by all the neighboring countries that were claiming to be friendly states, and no window was opened for the Iraqis except Iran, Fahim explains.Following is the text of the interview:

Q: After the fall of the Baathist regime in Iraq and removal of stumbling blocks that had hampered rapprochement between the Iranian and Iraqi peoples, voices have emerged to drive a wedge between the two nations and demonize the Islamic Republic. Who is behind these efforts?

A: This propaganda has been practiced widely, clearly and tangibly against the Islamic Republic of Iran in Iraqi, Arab, Zionist, American and British media outlets since the success of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and especially after 2003 with the end of Saddam's Baathist rule.

With a simple extrapolation, we find that the word Iran is mentioned in the media affiliated with Saudi Arabia and the Emirates more than any other word and at a very large rate per day.

For example, you would not find a daily news program in which Iran is not mentioned as an evil player.

Al-Arabiya, Al-Hadath, and Sky News channels, and Al-Sharqiya and Dijla Channels follow the same policy, which target the Shia society in the center and south of Iraq.

There are other channels funded by Saudi Arabia and the Emirates and even established to fuel the flame of sectarian war, such as the Safa and Wesal channels and the Egyptian Salafi channels.

These parties tried to reap the fruits of war against ISIS in which the great positive role of Iran and its support for the Iraqi people in the face of the takfiri attacks by ISIS and its sisters were clarified.

The enemies of Iraq fathomed out the great strategic depth that Iran represents for Iraq, especially after its support by all material and moral means.

To that end, it was necessary to drive a wedge between Iranian and Iraqi peoples and to ruin the image of Iran as a true ally of Iraq in order to isolate it.

The first step was launching an informational campaign with unprecedented pressure, which was represented in the so-called October revolution. Although it attracted the youth masses with the slogans of fighting corruption, fighting unemployment, and demanding services, today none of these slogans are on the table but fighting Iran.

We saw such a clear effort in mobilizing and fueling anti-Iran sentiments when the football match between Iran and Iraq took place. Websites, channels, and discussions addressed the match as if it was a war.

And we saw how they called for the American, British, and Canadian ambassadors to play a role against Iran far from their diplomatic missions.

Q: Iran says that it is upholding the idea of regional resistance which is a comprehensive Islamic project that includes everyone Sunnis, Shias, Christians - while Arab channels are trying to portray Iran as a country that supports sectarianism that splits the Islamic ummah. What is your view?

A: All this demonization of the Islamic Republic of Iran is because of its position, its care, and the strategic depth of the axis of resistance. If Iran had abandoned the axis of resistance and its ideology or adopted normalization of ties with Israel as most countries in the region did, we would have seen Iran portrayed as an angel in the Arab media, a friend, and an ally.

This fierce attack against Iran is due to its rejection of normalization of ties with the Zionist regime, but in order to justify this hostility for the Sunni Arab public, Iran is depicted as a sectarian force.That is all to laugh at the nave people who care about the sectarian differences, otherwise, Iran supports Sunni Hamas and Sunni Islamic Jihad in Palestine as it supports all liberation movements against tyranny and arrogance in the world, even from non-Muslim countries.

If Iran were aligned with the American-Zionist policies, sectarianism and hostility against it would have disappeared, and that is why Iran was the police of the (Persian) Gulf in Shahs era.

Q: Do you think the tendencies of some Shia groups in Iraq that want to demonize Iran are in the interest of Iraq and its security and stability?

A: The recent experience in Iraq has proven, beyond a shadow of doubt, that nobody stands with the Iraqi people in its dark days but Iran as a strong neighbor and benevolent country.

The Iraqis felt this stance during the days of the unjust siege, which was imposed by all the neighboring countries that were claiming to be friendly states, and no window was opened for the Iraqis except Iran.

And after 2003, these states also closed their diplomatic doors and were reticent in dealing with the new political reality in Iraq, while Iran welcomed the new government and political reality in Iraq.

After the rise of ISIS and the collapse of Iraqi Army, Iran took a great stand at the hands of the martyred leader, General Qassem Soleimani; Iran opened its arsenals and supplied Iraq with military equipment, experts, and fighters, and general Soleimani went to Lebanon to bring commanders and field military experts to deal with ISIS, while Iraqis were ignorant of this type of war.

Soleimani led the battlefields with Iraqi leader Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis to close this treacherous page of history. General Soleimani was assassinated in Iraq, and his blood was shed on the soil of Iraq.

All these positions prove that standing with the Arab campaign against the Islamic Republic and aligning with the plots engineered by the hostile media is a loss for Iraq first before it is a loss for Iran.

Iraq is the one that needs Iran, not the opposite, and the anti-Iran groups are the losers. The alignment with the anti-Iran Arab project is in fact in line with the Zionist project and the project of normalization of ties with Israel in the region.

Those in charge of such a policy bet on the ignorance of many of these naive political groups and their emotional and unconscious behaviors.

Read more from the original source:
Nobody stands with Iraq in its dark days except Iran: Iraqi expert - Tehran Times

DUBAI: Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was greeted by hundreds of fans during a visit to Expo 2020 Dubai for a Q&A session at the sites Al-Wasl plaza, state news agency WAM reported.

The Manchester United forward and Portuguese international discussed his journey as a football player, and praised Dubai for being unique and different.

Dubai always brings something to the table, unique and different, he said.

Ronaldo is believed to be spending the international break in Dubai with his family, the WAM report said.

The five-time Ballon dOr winner was impressed by the expo, according to local media.

He said: It is unbelievably impressive. Bringing 192 nations with their culture and traditions under one roof is very exciting.

Ronaldo advised fans to take care of their physical and mental health. I am fit because I take care of my body. Do everything that makes your body and mind healthy, he said.

Original post:
Mercedes owned by King Faisal of Iraq up for sale in the US - Arab News

Iraqs health sector is in dire need of training and support to ensure it can counter the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has said.

Health authorities have recorded a surge in Covid-19 cases in recent days. Medics are struggling to meet the publics healthcare demands following years of war and instability that has depleted the sector.

Iraq is better prepared when compared to previous waves but it isnt enough. The health sector has plenty of biomed equipment but they dont have enough trained medical staff, Dr Shazeer Majeed, MSF medical co-ordinator in Iraq told The National.

So there's no point in having so many machines, he said.

Daily rates have decreased in the past week, with 6,550 new cases reported on Tuesday and 16 new deaths.

The country has recorded a total of 2.2 million infected cases and above 24,000 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020.

MSF has identified that anaesthetist doctors are the ones who are managing ICU departments in hospitals in Baghdad, but Mr Majeed said it required qualified medical doctors as well as highly trained nurses to manage complicated cases.

The ICU requires a multidisciplinary, patient-centred approach. Iraqs health sector needs highly trained nurses, physiotherapists and mental health support, he said.

Many Covid-19 patients come to hospital only when their condition is highly critical. They either receive some medical care or oxygen therapy, which, Dr Majeed said, required highly trained medical staff.

The late arrival of the patient or delay in seeking specialised medical care has been a real challenge, he said.

However, MSF is providing training for as many healthcare workers as possible in this regard.

Dr Hassan Ali, from Al Karkh General Hospital, said the lack of public awareness for health measures intensified the struggles of medics.

There is a limitation of health services in general but on top we have a population that doesnt really take into consideration any of the Covid-19 health measures, Dr Ali told The National.

This is one of the main reasons why there is a spike in cases recently, the 38-year-old said.

The surge was driven largely by public apathy towards the virus. Many routinely flout virus-related restrictions, refusing to wear face masks and continuing to hold large public gatherings.

We are struggling, we need support from all aspects, we have very little response from the government to preserve the health of individuals and society, he said.

Even though Iraq has a mandatory vaccination programme, the coverage is low with only a little more than 9 million of the 40 million population vaccinated.

There Is a lot of hesitancy in terms of vaccination, said Dr Majeed.

He said MSF was working in areas that had a low vaccination rate.

Each sub-district in Baghdad has its own reasons for this, he said, adding that it could be related to religious or cultural reasons.

MSF is attempting to identify the reasons for vaccine hesitancy in a given geographical area and trying to target the population with that reason, Dr Majeed said.

This makes it difficult to approach the problem and to overcome it, to open people's minds as to why they should get the vaccine basically, he said.

MSF will have to tailor the messages to the population of the sub-district or your target population, Dr Majeed said.

Iraqis do not understand how important it is to get vaccinated, Sura Al Rawi, a general practitioner at Baghdad Hospital said.

"We are not only trying to convince people to get the shot but we are attempting to inform them of its benefits but no one seems to believe us," she told The National.

Ms Al Rawi said the health ministry needed to do more to ensure public awareness was spread throughout the country.

"Everyone needs to know the necessity of this, we've lost many lives. but we have to do more to save the rest," she said.

Iraqs Health Ministry has repeatedly tried to reassure people that the vaccines are not harmful, but this has not convinced over half of the population who have long-standing distrust of the government.

Updated: February 2nd 2022, 5:59 PM

Read the rest here:
Staff shortages threaten Iraq's health sector amid third Covid-19 wave - The National

The days ahead will tell us if Iraqs difficult political process is to chart a new path by allowing the formation of a majority government, as promised by the electoral winners of the October parliamentary election, or continues its 17-year tradition of national unity governments that have proven ineffective, unmanageable and unpopular with the people.

The Sadrists, with 73 seats, scored a major victory in the Iraqi parliaments opening session on Jan. 9. Their quiet, behind-the-scenes work to form an ethno-sectarian alliance with Kurdish and Sunni parties bore fruit when the alliance easily elected its Sunni choice for the speakership of the parliament, Mohammed al-Halbusi.

A potentially second major victory was scored during the same session by registering the Sadrists as the biggest bloc with 90 seats after they drew to their bloc an additional 17 members of parliament. This effectively means that once the president of the republic is elected, most likely during parliaments second session on Feb. 7, he will have 15 days to charge Sadrists with the task of forming the new government, giving them 30 days to achieve this task.

But because of its highly fractious politics,all is not certain in Iraq.

Still, Sadrists have the best chance to maintain their position as the biggest bloc again if a new parliamentary session is needed to settle the issue.

The Coordination Framework (CF), a loose Shiite alliance, is calling for a national unity government and a delay in the formation of the majority government in the hope of pressuring Sadrists into accepting a deal allowing the CFs various blocs to join the government. The CF has been using these time-gaining tactics in various contexts since the initial results of the election were released in mid-October. The tactics failed to change Sadrists' insistence on a majority government. Now with the Sadrists in a better-placed position after forming their grand ethno-sectarian alliance and electing the parliamentary speaker and his two deputies, it is highly unlikely they will accommodate the CF.

Neither has Iranian intervention on behalf of the CF changed Muqtada al-Sadrs determination to go it alone in government formation without other Shiite partners if necessary. The sticking point seems to be the Sadrists' unwavering rejection to include in the next government the CFs biggest bloc, former Prime Minister Nouri al-Malikis State of Law Coalition, with 33 seats. The several visits to Najaf and Baghdad by Irans commander of the Quds Force Ismael Qani could neither broker a deal to bring all Shiite Islamist parties together in a grand alliance nor convince Maliki to go into the opposition.

The new fact is that the CF is still holding together after initial indications that some of its blocs, particularly Hadi al-Amiris Fatah Alliance with 17 seats, might join the majority government, basically breaking the CF whose main bargaining chip is to stick together to be able to pressure the Sadrists. In his latest TV appearance, Sadr said that Amiri stepped back from an earlier promise to join the government. With the CF still holding together, the goal seems to protect Maliki from future prosecution if he goes to the opposition. A source told Al-Monitor that the CF, with Iran's help, has been trying, unsuccessfully so far, to obtain guarantees from Sadr that Maliki and other CF members would not be pursued for past alleged misdeeds.

Sadrs ethno-sectarian alliance, on the other hand, projects confidence. Prior to a three-way meeting in Najaf with Sadr, the Kurdistan Regional Governments President Nechirvan Barazani and parliament speaker Halbusi, the latter tweeted that the time of outside intervention is over, taking a jab at Iran's influencing effort. It is unusual for a high-level Sunni official such as Halbusi to criticize Iran in such a thinly veiled manner. Sadrs tweet following the meeting was even more straightforward in setting the demarcation line between his alliance and the CF, stating, We are still pursuing a national majority government and welcome a dialogue with the national opposition. By calling for a dialogue with the opposition, Sadr seems to have closed the door on further negotiations with the CF about government formation, basically forcing it into parliamentary opposition. Seeing their hopes of being represented in the government dashed, some CF members may jump ship and join the Sadrist-dominated government. A source told Al-Monitor that 25 parliament members from Malikis bloc expressed their desire to leave the bloc and join the government.

Barring the unexpected, the path seems clear to a majority government. A possible challenge the CF can throw in the way is to break the quorum for the Feb. 7 parliamentary session to elect the president of the republic. The Iraqi Constitution requires the presence of at least two-thirds of all parliament members to conduct the first round of this election. The CF does not have the needed quorum-breaking third (109 parliament members), but if it draws enough parliament members from independents and smaller blocs, it may be able to pull it off. This is unlikely because many of the independents and small blocs hail from or support the October 2019 protest movement, which greatly distrusts the CF and accuses its armed wing of targeting protesters.

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Sadr committed to forming Iraq's first majority government - Al-Monitor